Of same place



(No Model.) I

J. ERNY, z. T. SUBERSL & W. 1100s.

FREEZING APPARATUS.

No. 446,252. Patented Feb. 10. 1891.

I I I IIII la virus 00., more-mm, wAsmNG'rON, n. c.

UNITED ,TATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB ERNY, ZACH T. SUBERS, AND IYILLIAM HOOS, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO THE INTERNATIONAL FREEZING AND REFRIGERATINGMACHINE COMPANY OF NEW' JERSEY, OF SAME PLACE.

FREEZING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,252, dated February10, 1891.

Original application filed January 3, 1890, Serial No. 335,796. Dividedand this application filed April 28, 1890. Serial No. 349,712. (Nomodel.) v

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JACOB ERNY, ZACH T. SUBERS, and WILLIAM Hoos,citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the countyof Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Freezing Apparatus, (the present applicationbeing a division of an application filed January 3, 1890, No.

[0 335,7 96 3) and we do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had tothe accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification.

This invention has relation to refrigerating and freezing apparatus, andhas for its object the provision of novel means whereby in a freezing orrefrigerating machine in which the refrigeration is produced by theexpan- 2o sion of a suitable gas, the said gas, which may be ammoniacalgas, is liberated by heat from its aqueous solution, condensed by cold,liquefied by pressure, expanded so as to produce the requisite loweringof temperature for the refrigerating or freezing operation, and-finallyreturned to and absorbed so as to again form an aqueous solution withthe water with which it was originally associated, the said operationsbeing performed automati- 3o cally and the two phasesof the process-thatis, first, the liberation of the gas and its condensation andcompression, and, second, the expansion of the compressed gas and itsreabsorption in solution-being performed al- 5 ternately.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an apparatus embodyingour invention, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of thecomplete apparatus. Figs. .2, 3,

4o andeare detail views of separate parts of the same.

A'and Bdesignate two cylinders or vessels leads upward and over thecylinder B and extends downward into the latter nearly to its bottom-sayabout nine-tenths of its length.

A backfiow-pipe d leads fromthe cylinder B to the top of cylinder A.This pipe is bent so as to form a trap, and its upper leg passes throughthe bottom of the cylinder B and rises within said cylinder aboutone-fourth the length of the latter. From the top of the cylinder B apipe 1) leads outward and is formed into a coil or worm b b, which is'contain'ed within a cooling-vessel D, through which water is caused toflow from a suitable supply source. The. pipe constituting the coil orworm is continued so as to lead into the top of a cylinder C, made ofmetal and of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure of itsexpansible contents. Between the coil 5 and the cylinder C the pipebileading from the former, is furnished with a suitable checkvalve h,which prevents a backflow of gas 7c from the cylinder 0 to the coil.

E designates a suitable freezing-coil, which communicates with thecylinder 0 at the bottom of the latter through an elbow-pipe t, in whichis fitted a valve i, constructed, arranged, and adapted to operateautomatically, so as to open and close the communication of the cylinderwith the freezing-coils alternately and according to the course andrequirements of the process. From the extremity of the freezing-coil apipe or extension F leads back to the cylinder A, and is continued downthrough the top of the latter to nearly the bottom, and at any suitablepoint along said pipe F is located a check-' valve 70, which preventsthe gas rising from the contents of vessel A from passing along the pipeF to the cylinder C. v

\Vith the apparatus as so far described an with the cylinderA partiallyfilled with aqua- 9o ammonia and the cylinder charged with the samesolution to about the level of [the pipe d, the operation will be asfollows: The cylinder A being heated by means of a gas-flame or otherheating medium, the gas is liberated from the ammoniacal solution andpasses through the pipea into cylinder B, while any moisture carriedover with the gas is condensed andcarried back through the pipe a intothe vessel A. The gas then passes from the cylinder B into and throughthe coil or worm,wherein it is condensed, and from which it flows intothe cylinder C and is liquefied, and asaconsequence of the pressurebecomes heated or raised in temperature. \Vhen all or nearly all theammoniacal gas has been distilled off from the cylinder A, the heat isturned off and the cylinder A allowed to cool oif, the cooling beinghastened and assisted by a circulation of water around the outside ofthe cylinder., The valve leading to the freezing-coil is now openedslightly, and the contents of the cylinder 0 gradually and slowlyadmitted to the freezing-coil, wherein the liquefied ammonia expands andinstantly reduces the temperature of the freezing-coil to a very lowdegree. From the freezing-coil the gas returns by way of the pipe F tothe cylinder A, wherein it is again taken up or reabsorbed by the water,thus restoring the solution to its normal condition, from which it maybe again evaporated by the reapplication of heat, In order, however, torender the operations entirely automatic, we have contrived thefollowing expedients: First, means for turning on and oif theheating-flame or other heating medium; second, mechanism forperiodically opening and closing the outlet-valve of the cylinder (3;third, an exhaust valve and gage by means ofwhich, when it is desired tooperate the apparatus, the air may be exhausted from the apparatus andthe completion of the exhaust accurately determined.

Supposing that it is desired to employ a gas-flame to heat the cylinderA, a gas-sup, ply pipe G is led down beside the cylinder A from a pointsome distance above the top of the latter and provided with a suitableburner 9, located below the cylinder. At H is located a gas cockprovided with an elongated arm or handle h, weighted so as to fall bygravity until it rests against a stop 72.. When the arm is in thisposition, the gas supply to the burner is out off.

A pipe f extends through the top of the cylinder A and downward aboutthree-fourths e length o sai oylin er- A pi t f is arranged to move inthis pipe, which is filled with an oil highly expansive under theinfiuence of heat. The piston-rodf extends upwardly parallel with thegas-pipe G, and upon the side of said piston-rod is hinged an L-shapedarm, the horizontal extension of which is normally below the outerextremity of the gas-cock lever, which extremity is bev elo as sh n, sothat. on the esce t of the piston-rod, the Lshaped arm, coming incontact with said gas-cock lever, will be swung aside, and allowed topass the latter. When the piston-ro i e e er, t e L- Shaped arm willcontact with and raise the g s-ooo ;t s ni g n the gas- A bevelpiece Zis arranged in the path of the extension of the L-shaped arm, and as thepiston rises under the expansion of the oil to its full limit theL-shaped arm comes into contact with the beveled piece Z and is pushedaside, thus allowing the gas-cock lever to drop and shut off the gas.The upper end of the piston-rod is attached to a horizontal lever m,which is fulcrumed at m, and between its ends is connected toapiston-rod n, which enters the upturned end of a trap-shaped pipe M, theother end of which enters the head of the cylinder B. This piston-rod isprovided with a piston 71, which plays in a suitable piston-chamberformed in the end of the pipe M. This pipe, with its piston andconnections, constitutes what we term the starter, the functions ofwhich are as follows: After the apparatus has been in operation and allthe gas has been absorbed by the water in the two cylinders A and B thepressure will rise in hese y i s and the gas pa sin th ugh e bent pipe Mwi ll'aise the pist n 11, and cause the same to lift, the lever m, andwith it the piston-rodf thus turning on the gas, which, it may bestated, need not be entirely shut off, but only reduced to a very smallflame, when the gas-cock lever is allowed to drop. It is obvious that asmall supplementary sass e may be kept consta t y lighted so as toignite the main gas-burner when required.

In order to render the operation of the outet valvo of the cylinder 0automatic an o cause it to close when all the contents of the cylinder 0are exhausted, this valve may be ma e in he form of a slidewalve andhave its stem extended downwardly and provided with a stud 0, which,when the cylinder is fully charged and the piston-rod f 2 raised to tsfu lest e t, i l e st uck. by the end of the lever 0, connected by meansof a rod or rods P to said pistolrrod. Asuitable spring i serves torestore the valve 2" to its closed position when the cylinder 0 isexhausted.

- The oondonsi g'o il has been described as being located within avessel through Whiflh coldwater flows. A similar vessel, as indicated atQ, may surround the cylinder A, forming a cooling-vessel therefor, andcommunicating bya pipe Q with the vessel 1) or with the water-supplypipe D, as shown in the drawings, said water-supply pipe being providedwith a three-way cock Q the stem of which is coupled to the piston-rodfby rods f f so that the movement of said rod will serve to turn the cockand alternately direct the cold water into the, vessels D and Q.

At any suitable point on the return-pipe F 7 by the expanding gas, andits escape is indicated by the bubbling of the water in the vessel t. Assoon as the gas begins to issue the bubbling ceases, the gas beingabsorbed by the water, and the exhaust-pipe is closed by turning thecock 7?. It is only necessary to use this exhaust appliance when theapparatus is first charged, or at most at very long intervals.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. In a refrigerating apparatus,the combination of the following features, to Wit: a vessel to containaqua ammonia provided with a heater and a water-circulating cooler, withmeans for bringing the heater and cooler alternately into action,adrying-vessel located above and in communication With the firstnamedvessel, with a return-pipe leading to said vessel, a condensing-coil incommunication with the gas-drying vessel and provided with awater-circulating cooler, a receptacle for liquefied gas incommunication with the condensing-coil, a freezing-coil, and a return--pipe leading therefrom to the evaporating 2. In a refrigeratingapparatus, the combination, with a heating andevaporating vessel, thecondensing-vessel, freezing coil, a branch pipe leading from thecondensingvessel to the freezing-coil and provided with a valve, and theother vessels and pipes of a complete freezing system, of an automaticheat-regulator and suitable devices operatively connected to saidregulator and .comprising a system of levers coupling or connecting saidheat-regulator to said valve for automatically closing and opening thecommunicationhetween the condenser and freezing-coil accordingly as theheat is raised and lowered, substantially as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our handsthis 7th day of April, 1890.

JACOB ERNY. ZACH T. SUBERS. VILLIAM I-IOOS.

\Vitnesses:

H. E. GARsED, CHAS. DUBRAE.

